Carol Burnett (‘Better Call Saul’) would be oldest acting Emmy winner ever
Although her acting on her eponymous 11-season variety show was consistently overlooked by the TV academy, Carol Burnett has still racked up two dozen Emmy nominations and six wins over the course of six decades. Having just reached the age of 90, she is now on the verge of earning her first Best Drama Supporting Actress notice for AMC’s “Better Call Saul,” which would also be her first for a supporting or lead role on a non-sketch series. If she succeeds on this possible bid, she will set a new precedent as the first nonagenarian to ever win an acting Emmy.
Burnett joined the cast of “Better Call Saul” for the second part of its sixth and final season, which aired from July to August 2022. Her character, Marion, is the elderly mother of a cab driver who becomes an accomplice of seasoned criminal Jimmy “Saul Goodman” McGill (Bob Odenkirk). Although she is exclusively credited as a special guest star, she does not qualify for guest category placement since she appears in more than half of the semi-season’s six episodes.
Currently, the record for oldest acting Emmy winner belongs to Betty White, who was 88 when she achieved her fifth career victory for guest hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 2010. She, in turn, took the distinction from Beulah Bondi, who was 86 days younger when she prevailed in 1977 for “The Waltons” in the now-defunct category of Best Lead Actress for a Single Appearance in a Series. The record among continuing series regulars is held by Marion Lorne, who was awarded the 1968 comedy supporting actress prize for “Bewitched” 10 days after her death at 84.
Even if she doesn’t win for “Better Call Saul,” Burnett could still make history as the oldest person ever nominated for any lead or supporting Emmy. At this point, the only actress who has been recognized by the academy past age 90 is Cicely Tyson, who garnered five drama guest bids for “How to Get Away with Murder” between 2015 (90) and 2020 (95). The only two entrants on the corresponding male list are Eli Wallach (91, comedy guest, “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” 2007; 94, drama guest, “Nurse Jackie,” 2010) and Ernest Borgnine (92, drama guest, “ER,” 2009).
Burnett’s Emmys resume presently includes 10 performance nominations in six categories. She earned her first two wins for the variety program “The Garry Moore Show” (1962) and the musical specials “An Evening with Carol Burnett” and “Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall” (both 1963) before receiving her third and most recent acting trophy for her comedic guest appearance on “Mad About You” (1997). Her latest acting notice came in the drama guest category for “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” (2009).
Burnett placing ninth in Gold Derby’s drama supporting actress odds ranking means she isn’t quite a shoo-in for a nomination, but her expertly nuanced performance won’t be easy for voters to forget. Taking that and her (barely) arguable status as the greatest living TV legend into consideration, she can easily emerge as one of the year’s strongest contenders.
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